CFI! The Book: A Satirical Aviation Comedy

This may not be as funny and real to anyone not associated with aviation, but those of us who have flown even just to the Private Pilot stage, can recognize the events in this well-written book. I suggest you also read the author's first book, "Hauling Checks," which is just as seriously amusing. These books are claimed to be fiction, and the experiences may not all have happened to the author, but they have happened to all of us who have flown airplanes.

I bought this book because I'm a pilot and it popped up on the list of books I might like. Amazon was right -- I did like it. There are a few grammar and punctuation mistakes here and there, which caught my eye because I'm also a history professor, but the content of the book was great. I've had several CFIs, some young and some old, and I'm around some of them from KOSU sometimes. The stories I've head from some of them completely resonated with me as I was reading this book. There were a few places in the book that I thought were a little exaggerated, but that's part of narration. And yet, who knows if they were exaggerations -- some of the stories I've heard about private aviation schools and clubs, as well as about some of the asinine flight instructors and ignorant students, make what I've read seem perfectly plausible. Soon I'll read this author's other book about flying checks -- a topic I was just talking about today with a CFI friend.

While mildly entertaining, this is an extremely poor example of flight training. In almost 40 years of instructing I've NEVER found the need to YELL at a student! It's completely counterproductive in any learning environment. If your a student, find a different instructor. If you're an instructor who subscribes to this teaching method, find another way to build your hours.

This is one of the most enjoyable books I've read in a long time. I can say, without reservation, that I stopped to laugh out loud at least a dozen times. The characters are wonderfully bizarre, the settings are fully developed, and the events that drive the story are insane. The author hints, in his words to his audience, that all these things might have happened. No doubt they did, but the names were changed to protect the guilty. Buy this book. Read it and laugh. I read it several times and laughed each time. Then I gave the book to a friend and now it's her turn to laugh. Five stars, all the way!

As a former flight instructor I found this book to be a really fun read. I wonder about the flight school the author flew for; its hard to believe that a flight school operator could be so messed up. You have to read the book to learn what i mean. It is a good read, give it a try.

Alex Stone's portrayal of a fictitious flight school and its CFIs, nails the frustration CFIs must suffer a one time or another in trying to teach their students. This is a must read for any CFI, student pilot or anyone who has every taken a fight in a small airplane.I was not a "natural" student pilot to say the least. And I am sure I scared the hell out of a number of my CFIs. Just like in Stone's "Hauling Checks" the characters are ridiculous, but they share enough reality to make you laugh & worry at the same time. Comedy & satire are hard to write. Alex Stone has a knack for it.Tom K

It is written for laughs, but there is a lot of truth in it. We all know the pilot soloing at 1,000 hours and the flight schools hanging on by a thread cutting the strangest of corners.

Very funny. Maybe a lot real stuff. Good read. CFI in an other day

I am a pilot and currently training to be a flight instructor.When I saw this book on Amazon I bought it immediately and I’m so glad I did!Alex Stone’s portrayal of the working life of a Certified Flight Instructor is glorious, filled with humour, tension, intrigue, and real laugh-out-loud moments.If you have a love of aviation or just an interest in your fellow man, this is definitely a book for you.I just wish it were longer, I really didn’t want it to stop!

This book seems to have been written primarily for pilots, and especially CFIs. The language - although defined in a glossary at the back of the book - is unashamedly full of pilot speak, and that is to be expected. The concern, however, is that until they get to the back of the book, groundhogs might find some of the prose hard to understand.As to the stories, they reminded me of my own CFI days in Georgia, so that it was more like sitting with a bunch of pilots trying to see who had the most outrageous tale of woe than reading a book.It's a quick read, and worth it just to see the desperation of someone trying to get enough hours to take the next step. If you are a pilot, or better yet, a CFI, it's a no brainer. You may, however, recognise yourself in it.

There is a general pressure for creators to deliver in their second work because of the expectation they set in their first . However, Alex Stone has out done himself with this short but wonderful prequel which technically becomes the first book, so no pressure!I love how he opens with this amazing joke-".. hours of boredom followed by seconds of sheer terror, followed by several minutes of screaming, and then we did it again, over and over..." . It truly left me laughing with tears in my eyes. I mean! Alex has managed to pull off what seems to be the funniest aviation novel, much better than his previous book- Hauling Checks. I feel less sorry for him than I did last time, because really, when he himself is able to laugh it out, why shouldn't we? Besides, apart from the several near death experience, everything seems to be blatantly funny .In an attempt to collect the required amount of flight time before looking for a full-time job, Alex joins a company and becomes a flight instructor only to be surrounded by lunatics at work and head weighted, whining students who are either disinterested or completely lack the knack of flying. To top it all, Alex lives a sorry life with 10 other flight instructors in small space with nearly nothing to eat, a lousy boss and a colleague who quits in the last minute.People who are capable of laughing at themselves are the best kind of people and you can truly see it in Alex. I can almost imagine him shaking his head as these events unravel itself his life. His sarcasm is gold when he describes his experiences traveling with friends in a single car, going out with people and just losing his head over students who ignore the rules. He boldly jokes about instances that I am sure are most likely illegal. But hey, this is all fictional, isn't it? His approach and ability to turn some of the most painful and traumatic experiences into a sequence of comical events is just commendable. These preposterous and totally absurd episodes are completely distinctive and yet very familiar.The sarcasm of the narration is sometimes so stealthy that one might confuse it to politeness. A lot of incidents in the book keeps you guessing and makes you think if its actually true.His jokes are fast and spontaneous. the exchange between the instructors, the students or "the customers" as the boss calls it is just all over the place and makes you want to smack your forehead and wonder how he stayed for so long. But then you think about Hauling Checks and be like this is luxury compared to that.

The book was a pretty cynical and funny insight into what has to be one of the worst fictitious flight schools. As a flight instructor myself, I can associate with some of the trials and tribulations. It was a pretty quick read, lighthearted, and the characters were plausible for sure. Like the sequel, Hauling Checks, it should definitely be a Hollywood movie!!